In 2016, we completed the Kentucky LGBTQ Heritage Initiative, a collaborative partnership between the Fairness Campaign, the University of Louisville’s Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research, the Williams-Nichols Archive housed in UofL’s Ekstrom Library’s Archives and Special Collections, the Kentucky Heritage Council, State Historic Preservation Office, and Preservation Louisville. It is the result of a matching grant from the National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior as part of their Underrepresented Communities Grant via the State, Tribal and Local Plans and Grants Division.
Kentucky’s project yielded the nation’s first statewide LGBTQ Historic Context Narrative and two National Register of Historic Place amendments, including the site of Kentucky’s first LGBTQ Bar, the Beaux Arts in the Henry Clay Building, and longtime LGBTQ gathering spot The Downtowner in Whiskey Row.
Download the Full KY LGBTQ Historic Context Here
